I Became the Cute One in the Problem-Solving Team

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An abandoned building on the outskirts of Belmont.

This place was so desolate that I couldn’t even remember when the last human hand had touched it.

It was inevitable.

Belmont was, in fact, a declining city where the younger generation was leaving in droves.

So naturally, remnants of those who had left behind were bound to be found in the outskirts.

However, every situation has two sides.

Just as a poison that can quickly take a life when overdosed may serve as a medicine in small doses, places like this, abandoned and devoid of people’s gaze and interest, became exceedingly comfortable safe havens for uninvited guests.

Swoosh.

A woman, squinting her eyes to the point of practically slitting them, cautiously peeked out through the curtain into the dark outside.

“It seems… there’s no sign of anyone approaching nearby yet.”

“Phew, that means… we can catch our breath for a moment.”

Fortunately, there were no indications of an enemy approaching nearby just yet.

Confirming that fact again, she meticulously drew the curtains to ensure no gap was left through which light might escape.

Then, the woman set a portable lamp with the dimmest light on a shelf of a suitable height.

As she surveyed the now faintly illuminated interior, a green-skinned man entered her view.

The attire of the man with green skin was quite absurd.

He was wrapped in bandages around his upper body as if he wore them instead of clothing.

Yet the blood-soaked bandages made it clear that this wasn’t just for show.

It was nothing short of a miracle that he was even able to sit up in such a horrific state.

The woman bit her lip at the sight of the man and repeated the words she had uttered countless times before.

“I’m so sorry, Greg. Because of me….”

“…Karen, didn’t we agree to stop talking about that?”

“But…!”

“Enough. If I hear it two more times, I’ll be up to my hundredth round.”

The bandage-covered orc, Greg, waved his arm like he was tired of the apologies.

He was close to having heard those words dozens of times over the past two weeks and was getting earwax in his ears from the repetition.

However, no matter what Greg said, the shadow on her face didn’t disappear.

After all, it couldn’t change the fact that he had been dragged into the incident completely unrelated to him.

Karen, with a face full of fatigue, plopped down on the floor beside Greg and curled up, mumbling.

“Should I have just complied with the demands…?”

She had been on the run with Greg for over two weeks now, endlessly fleeing the nation and the city.

The reason for all this wasn’t anything else but a tenacious and bothersome pursuer.

The name of the pursuer was none other than the Inter-Species Liberation Army.

They wanted to recruit Karen, who was an exceptional genius among the Arachnes with superior magical control.

However, Karen did not agree with the Liberation Army’s policy, which was to enslave all humanity.

She was living a sufficiently satisfying life and had no reason to harbor any hatred towards humanity.

But the Liberation Army wasn’t willing to accept Karen’s refusal and attempted to abduct her by force, and that was when Greg happened to come by to drop off some items.

That was the very reason he became embroiled in the incident, the root of Karen’s profound guilt.

“It’s a trivial concern.”

“Urgh, trivial? Do you have any idea how sorry I am because of you, Greg…!”

Greg shot back brutally as if he couldn’t empathize with Karen’s downcast demeanor at all.

She immediately bristled like a writhing caterpillar but his words continued.

“Hmph, I just don’t like those who swing their will around without considering the circumstances of others. So, I merely intervened to hinder the ones I dislike. What you think doesn’t matter to me.”

“Even if you say that….”

“And this level of injury is nothing for an orc to recover from. What you’re doing is like taking a human who fell and scraped their skin to the emergency room. It’s the so-called unnecessary worry.”

“….”

Karen had no reply.

She couldn’t tell whether Greg’s words were sincere or just bravado about how this was just a scrape.

But one thing was for sure: Greg was significantly weaker now than he had been two weeks ago.

The relentless pursuers were hunting him down like wolves, not giving him enough time to properly heal his wounds.

No matter how strong someone is, they can’t perform at their best when forced into a war of attrition without enough time to recover.

And as time went on, it was clear that the advantage lay not with them but rather with the enemy, gnawing away at the psyche of those being chased.

‘Greg is still alive and well. But at this rate… hope….’

Karen felt as if she were trapped in an endless dark ocean, unable to see which direction to go.

If only she could see a light beyond that deep darkness.

The fear of sinking if she stood still was slowly tightening around her neck.

Perhaps sensing the fear in her heart, Greg, who had been breathing quietly and deeply like he was asleep, suddenly spoke to Karen.

“Don’t worry too much. There’s still a chance.”

“But you said today could be a turning point. That means… we could all be captured here….”

“No, what I meant is that this tiresome chase could end today. In either a good or bad way.”

A good way? As if that were possible.

Karen held back her urge to say those words and calmed her feelings.

To be honest, even from her perspective as a novice in fighting, the odds were slim.

That was because the enemies coming after them were either equal to or even stronger than Greg.

Just Greg alone was a monster who could crumple steel with his bare hands and effortlessly lift cars.

In a dire situation where there were two powerful foes even if Greg had to engage in a direct showdown, victory could not be guaranteed.

No matter how much Greg might succeed in calling for external support while waiting for an opportunity, expecting help to arrive at least tonight was difficult.

And even if help arrived on time…

The sheer number of Liberation Army fighters and the presence of formidable foes were more than enough to crush any will to resist.

“I’m sorry, Greg. I pulled you in for no reason….”

Karen felt a deep sense of guilt towards Greg.

She spoke those words but he was unbearably kind despite everything.

For her, the profound anguish of dragging him into this mess was almost like a dagger to the heart.

Awwwooo—

The howl of a wolf echoed from a distance.

It seemed the relentless night was returning to them.

*

I dashed through the dark streets of Belmont, covered in a cloth shaken off the dust.

The path was entirely unfamiliar and new to me.

I had no idea whether to turn left or right from here.

But it was okay. The information-gathering Echo was guiding me through like a navigation system.

[ Master, turn right here, and when you see the tilted sign, turn left. It looks like the way will open up! ]

Thanks to that, I felt I wouldn’t get lost. Thank you.

I thought that in my mind as I propelled my body forward with telekinesis, slicing through the wind swiftly.

It felt like a limiter had been lifted from my heart, and my telekinesis was in perfect form.

[ Ehehe, thank you. ]

[ That’s unfair. I want to be praised by Mama too! ]

‘Thanks, Tesseract. It really comforted me.’

[ Hehe. Really? ]

These adorable creatures.

Seeing Echo and Tesseract getting so giddy just from compliments made me chuckle softly.

What kind of existence am I to them that they get so thrilled just by praise?

The heavy burden that had been pressing on my chest felt a little lighter.

Then, suddenly, I sensed something unusual ahead.

A gut feeling that if I passed by like this, it would lead to serious trouble.

I immediately slowed down, pressed against the outer wall of a building, and perked up my ears to focus on the sounds.

And indeed, faint voices of people could be heard. The content was unclear, though.

‘Echo, do you sense any signs of a terminal or something on the other side?’

[ Yes. There are two. ]

‘Is there any way to hack those terminals and eavesdrop on what they’re saying?’

[ I’ll give it a try. ]

Echo responded as if puzzled, as if she had never done such a thing before.

However, I had faith in Echo’s abilities.

Since they were terminals that could make calls or access the internet without numbers, it should be sufficiently possible to hack into existing nearby terminals.

And just as I hoped, I soon received a response from Echo.

[ Success! Would you like me to reconstruct the voices and play them back for you? ]

‘No, that’s too much trouble. Can you just summarize the main points for me?’

[ Sure. …It seems they are werewolves, and they appear to be chasing some sort of target. And it seems they might be on the verge of reaching that target. ]

I could instinctively sense that Greg was included in that target.

So there was no time to hesitate any longer.

Thinking that, I used telekinesis as a foothold to leap high, really high.

And the moment I stood vertically over the location of the two werewolves, I accelerated downward, as if I were a meteor falling from the sky.

“So, I’m saying… huh? Guh!”

“En- enemy…! Ugh!”

Crash!

Before my opponents even had time to react, I used telekinesis to cover one werewolf’s mouth and seized his neck, lifting him into the air.

The werewolf’s advantages were immense strength, sharp claws, and a relentless vitality that could recover quickly even after being stabbed.

Put simply, they were sturdy straw men utterly defenseless to stronger forces.

Thus, while they struggled and fought hard, their flailing limbs were utterly meaningless now that they had been caught.

“Ugh, ehh….”

“Grr….”

Thud.

The two werewolves slumped helplessly to the ground, unconscious.

They were not critically injured, only knocked out.

I quickly tied their arms and legs tightly with the tough carbon fiber rope I had prepared so that they couldn’t move and then hidden them away in a corner where they wouldn’t be seen before moving back towards the coordinates marked in my message.

It looked like tonight was going to be quite a long one.